Today's paper carried a nearly full page article on the perilous situation
for Opuntia in Mexico. In the US they've kept the moths from invading the
southwest; they've got them stopped at Alabama after they came in via
Florida. But in Mexico they apparently decimated much of these cacti on an
island just 5 mi off the coast near Cancun.

I know the stores are now full of blooming holiday cactus [Schlumbergera
sp]--at least they are here--but the non-forced, unpampered ones growing in
our shady areas and patios are not far behind. They're full of buds [one
has two open flowers] and it's kind of fun to guess what colors the various
plants will bloom. We have one in a basket hanging in the Jamaican cherry
that must have 100 buds; ought to be spectacular if they more or less open
at the same time, whatever their color.